Ireland observations

The break in my blogging was due to my trip to Ireland over the past 2 weeks. I’m going to do a retroactive blog of the days as though I was blogging when I was there. Of course I didn’t actually blog while I was there because I intentionally was unplugged — no internet at all and barely even touched a computer (download pictures from the camera). Use the Ireland category link on the right to see all the Ireland postings. Don’t forget they’re reverse chronological so scroll down to the bottom to see the first one. And be sure to click on links. I’ll be linking to pictures and things throughout the text.

For now I’ll start with some general observations:

• not many bugs : I generally didn’t see screens on windows in the places we stayed. Apart from a swarm of gnats in a field, I saw probably 8 bugs in 2 weeks.
• different words, same meaning : I really enjoyed the different words used for things. It’s all English but just more refined sounding.
  • road detour = diversion
  • parking lot = car park
  • shopping cart = trolley
  • loose gravel = loose chippings
  • spring water (not mineral) = still water
  • cookies = biscuits
  • graham cracker cookies = digestives
  • potato chips = crisps
  • french fries = chips
  • audio store like Ultimate Electronics = electronic furniture store
• driving is a casual endeavor : This is especially true in the west around Galway. It was common to see a car parked halfway on the sidewalk and facing the opposite direction. In one case the diversion around some construction involved driving onto the sidewalk of the median. The roads were just generally tighter and people would go around each other in towns a lot. Clearly these roads predate automobiles by several hundred years and with the rock walls and general greenery surrounding the roads there really isn’t a way to expand the rural roads. And the sheep tend to rule the rural roads.
• road signs : the road signs were both straightforward visually and vague textually. For example, on a curve you’ll see a sign that says slow, then maybe another that says slower and finally one that days dead slow. We also saw one near construction that simply said danger with no hint of what we should look out for — rocks? sheep? Vikings? workers? I’ve collected some shots of the road signs from our videos.
• fire safety : You would see “fire assembly points” in public areas. Are these places to assemble to start a fire? Fires seem like a big deal because places have clearly posted fire emergency plans.
• open late, close early : The work day tended to start around 9 AM and businesses tended to close up around 5 PM. Rush hour was around 9:30 AM. How great is that? Places like Dunnes might make it to 8 or 9 PM. But especially in Dublin most places to go closed up at 5 PM and shops at 6 PM. Pubs excluded.

One Response to “Ireland observations”

1. Lynn H says:

   July 15, 2010 at 7:06 am

   My initial link was to the Connemara Coast Hotel, distance to beaches and stumbled onto this great blog!!!

   Thanks for your time and effort, thanks for sharing. My family are visiting Ireland on an All of Ireland tour, in 8 weeks (and two days.) My first trip to Ireland I was a single girl alone and this trip my husband, 3 siblings, spouses and meself are going!

   We decided to do the bus tour to keep us on track, sticking semi to an itinerary and filling in leisure time. Anyways, it was such a great time looking at the photos, movies, your enthusiasm and knowledge of experiencing it all is great stuff. I look forward to sharing your blog with them all.
   Thanks again,